We'll the season is now upon us. For the first time in 4 years I don't have that swagger. I hope the team does.

We see the full return of the prodigal number one son. A good pre season but a notoriously slow starter. Will he be able to get off to that fast start both he and the fans need to regain that trust and mutual respect?

Will Booth get past the first period without an injury? The second? The third? Will he score tonight in something other than an empty net?

Who will start on D?

Will we walk into the Shark tank and steal a game or will the Leafs be 4 points up on us in the race for the PT?

Will TSN bring real HD?

Will I actually want to watch a full game?

And so it begins, this 2013-2014 season of hopes and dreams.

Questions:

Does Torts have a dog house?

If yes, who will be the first player in it?

Who will Torts call out after the game, the refs, Thornton, Bieksa?

Will RD see any positives after tonight or will he come here to gloat after we get our asses handed to us?

The Sharks have had our number for the past little while now, but that has to change tonight. I’m sick of all the “aging”, “veteran group”, “cup window closing” crap spewing out of the media the past several months. This group is capable of playing so much better than they did last season, and San Jose should not scare them.

I'm actually genuinely excited to watch the boys play. The Tortorella era starts tonight! I’m curious and excited to see what a new voice can do to this group, after the departure of a very stale Alain Vigneault. Speaking of Alain, Garrison will be playing on the first PP unit, after the great mystery of last year where the guy didn’t play on the PP at all.

Sounds like Alberts has lost his job to a guy who has only played one NHL game…I haven’t seen a lineup yet, but here’s a guess at what we’ll see.

Our bottom six definitely has the potential for being shit. We haven't seen how they'll play yet, but Dalpe, Santorelli, Kassian, Sestito, Schroeder and Richardson all have significant question marks, which obviously isn't a great start. There are quite a few 'ifs' there, and a bunch of things have to work out, but FFS at least two of these guys have to work out, right???

We'll see if the cup window is closed. San Jose has had a resurgence after becoming renowned playoff choke artists, so all hope is not yet lost.

Really though, like all teams our best players have to play great and a bunch of things have to work out. Most teams have question marks, and thankfully for us they aren't in goal, on defense or in our top six (for the most part).